Information Bulletin
03 April 2006
Teachers in Scotland, 2005
The Scottish Executive National Statistics Division released the 2005 statistical analysis of Teachers employed in Scotland on 28 March 2006.
The statistics show Shetland Islands Council in 2005 as employing 385 teaching staff in its Schools and a further 30 teaching staff, centrally deployed, to provide a range of support services, including peripatetic behaviour and learning support, giving an overall total of 415 teaching staff providing school education.
Shetland, in terms of all school pupils had the lowest ratio of pupils to staff in Scotland, with a figure of 9.4 :1 against a national average of 14.1: 1. When centrally employed staff are added to the equation the Shetland ratio falls to 8.7 against a national average of 13.7.
When the ratios are broken down into Primary and Secondary schools, the ratio in Shetland Primary schools, with the employment of 187 teachers, registers at 10.4 : 1 against a national average of 17.1: 1. In Shetland Secondary schools, with the employment of 198 teachers, the ratio registers at 8.5: 1 against a national average of 12.3 : 1.
Shetland, in comparison with other Scottish Authorities, employs a proportionately larger number of staff to deliver Learning Support, Art, Music, and Physical Education. In relation to the employment of Foreign Language Assistants, Shetland is one of the 22 Authorities which do not have FL Assistants in Primary Schools. In terms of general support staff - auxiliaries, care assistants and classroom assistants - Shetland provides a proportionately very large number of staff.
In terms of age distribution Shetland teaching staff, understandably, have proportionately lower numbers in the under 25 category, fairly consistent proportions in the age range 25 to 50, a very large proportion in the 50 to 54 age range, and lower numbers in the 55 and over category. Information about the demographics of the teacher population is of considerable assistance in planning for the future employment of staff.
Senior promoted staff in the Primary sector, Heads and Deputes, continue to be mainly female, with the Shetland figure at 78%. This percentage is against a backdrop of 89% of staff in the primary sector being female. In relation to Secondary schools Senior promoted staff, Heads and Deputes, are mainly male, with a Shetland figure of 72%, against a backdrop of 46% of staff in the secondary sector being male.
In terms of conditions of employment, Shetland Primary staff have 90% on permanent contract and 10% on temporary contract. The comparative Secondary figure is 95% on permanent contract and 5% on temporary contract. The temporary contract figures are influenced by the number of staff on the probationer induction scheme where only temporary contracts of employment can be offered.
In summary, the statistics for 2005 demonstrate that Shetland continues to fund educational provision at a level which permits class sizes to be lower than in the rest of Scotland and that Shetland makes a very generous allocation of support resources to maintain classroom learning.
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